Investigation: Sudan Army Commits Mass Executions in Captured Territories

POWs shot, ethnic minorities targeted in new wave of war crimes

In Brief

Sudan’s army and a regional paramilitary (the RSF) that mutinied in 2023 have waged a two-year civil war marked by ever-increasing brutality. This has created the world’s largest humanitarian disaster and displacement crisis.

International humanitarian laws and rules of war have been flaunted throughout the conflict. In an effort to promote accountability and raise awareness of the cost and dangers of this conflict, Sudan War Monitor has published investigations about war crimes perpetrated by both sides. This particular article addresses a pattern of crimes perpetrated by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). We are an independent group of journalists and open source researchers unaffiliated with either side in the conflict.

---

Content Advisory: This article contains descriptions of graphic violence.

---

Systematic and Widespread

As the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) advanced in central Sudan, including in the capital Khartoum, it carried out executions against both prisoners of war and civilians suspected of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

SAF soldiers and proxy forces also rounded up and killed people simply for belonging to certain minority ethnic groups, particularly Darfuris, Nuba, and South Sudanese, whom SAF propagandists have portrayed as enemies of the state.

War crimes of this kind have taken place since the beginning of the war, but the number of victims has increased recently as large amounts of territory have changed hands. Over the past three months, these executions have taken place in three waves:

• Wad Madani and Surroundings: January 2025

• Khartoum Bahri and East Nile: February to early March 2025

• Khartoum: Late March 2025 - Early April 2025

Visual evidence of these executions has emerged, including cases where SAF soldiers or proxy forces mutilated the bodies of the victims after death.

Combatants themselves filmed these crimes, posting incriminating videos in chat groups or on social media as a way boasting of their actions. Others incidents were filmed by bystanders. The perpetrators include SAF soldiers acting individually or in groups, as well as members of other security forces, and members of two irregular proxy groups: the Sudan Shield Forces and the Al-Baraa Bin Malik Brigade.

Beheading Incidents

Geolocation of a video of a beheading in Ombada 16, outskirts of Omdurman. Estimated date of filming 25 March 2025.